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“Not sure, just telling you what Lorraine read online. You know how things are these days. Not sure what or who to believe anymore.”
The little online searching he did was sparse. Choosing to start with earlier information and planning to work his way to current day. Between spending his daylight hours at the city building and his free time with Mia, he stopped midway into, what Birdie had referred to earlier as the ABST timeline.
Despite his feelings about his daughter’s mother, he hated to think she left a hostile environment in Wayward only to be thrust into another one in Boston.
Then again, the woman had a way of finding trouble. After a while you had to reconcile the common denominator in this ever-expanding formula which was Birdie’s life.
The Chief continued, “Her stepsons accused her of several improprieties. Affairs with the help, manipulating their father when he was sick, and in their minds, unable to make sound financial decisions. There were even some unsubstantiated reports of her having a drug problem.”
Lucas’s head shot up at that one.
“For someone who was giving her the benefit of the doubt, you sure are indicting her now.”
“Just sharing what I know. For such an awful human being, she sure does have a wonderful kid who thinks highly of her. That’s more than what most teenage kids would say, even in Wayward.”
He had a point. Mia could throw out some dramatic eye rolls when discussing her mother, but she rarely had an unkind thing to say about her. Even after discovering she had kept Mia a secret from him all those years, she didn’t appear to blame Birdie, to a great extent. She had certainly used it to her advantage, which was typical for a teenager, but at the end of the day, she loved her mom and appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt as it pertained to Lucas.
Lucas stood, stretching his arms. “It’s getting late. I’ll send Lorraine on out. Thanks for staying with her.”
“Mia’s no trouble,” the Chief said, and then added, “She sure is crazy about her daddy.”
“Birdie said she was close to Marshall.”
“I’m sure she was, but I was referring to you. She’s crazy about you.”
Lucas didn’t know what to say to that, other than to try to keep from grinning ear to ear. Would he ever get tired of hearing it?
Walking into the house, he found Lorraine drying dishes and putting them away. Mia must have gone to bed already.
“I’ve told you; you don’t have to do my dishes.”
“It’s no bother,” she said with her usual smile. She dried her hands and folded the towel. “Mia’s in her room reading. Thought you should know she’s been asking questions about her grandparents.”
“The Wellborns?”
She nodded. “I told her I didn’t know them that well and to ask you.”
Lucas rubbed his eyes. “Not sure what I should tell her.”
“Wonder why she doesn’t ask her mom?”
“I get the impression Birdie’s made it her life’s mission to avoid telling her daughter much of anything about her family in Wayward, including me, which pretty much goes without saying.”
“Mia deserves to know what type of people they were and what they did.”
“Yeah, but is she ready for it?” Maybe he’d ask Cindy’s opinion tomorrow. She was a straight shooter. A practical woman. But also fair in how to handle delicate topics.
“We better be on our way. Miss Pinkie has called an emergency meeting tomorrow and we’re all supposed to bring what’s called a bikini razor. No telling what that woman’s up to. We’ll have to stop at the pharmacy on the way home.”
Lucas didn’t dare touch on that topic.
He kissed Lorraine on the cheek and said his goodbyes. Taking the stairs two at a time, he knocked lightly on Mia’s door.
“Come in.”
Good, she was still up.
He gently opened the door, in case she was in bed and yet to fall asleep, but instead found her wide awake sitting cross-legged on the floor and reading what looked to be a textbook.
